CHAPTER ELEVEN: ARIA

I turned to where the growl came from and where Chloe now stared wide eyed at and saw Two guys.

The first guy was extremely pale but unlike me his pale skin had a radiant, porcelain-like quality, a testament to his immortal nature. His features were chiseled, with high cheekbones and a strong jawline that looked like it could cut through wood like it were butter.

His eyes gleamed with amusement, a piercing shade of grey that seemed to hold ancient whispers. His hair, a rich dark grey perfectly styled to frame his angular face. He crossed his arms over his chest, crinkling his very ironed formal shirt, crossing his ankle and casually leaning his lean but muscular body on the wall closest to them. He's a vampire and I am completely struck by his cold but captivating presence.

The guy next to him had short, dark hair that was neatly trimmed, framing his strong facial features. Unlike the vampire, his build more muscular was evident under his rugged clothing. His muscles flexed, shoulders tensed, fists clenched and unclenched, his brown eyes flickered between brown and amber as he growled lowly again. Chloe's mate.

I gasped and in the blink of an eye Chloe was next to him, both of them halfway to where I was standing. Chloe's mate sniffed her neck and whispered stuff in her ears that made her giggle, her cheeks pink as she whispered back to him.

"Thane" Alpha Kael's voice sounded,  the new couple and the rest of us who'd been watching came out of our reverie. Chloe's mate looked up and nodded before kissing her cheek. So his name is Thane.

I turned back to face the podium and the vampire was sitting next to Greg, Chloe's Dad. I'd have asked when and how he got there but well, I've learnt about supernaturals, their speed and stealth plus I was too engrossed in Chloe's pink cheeks to have noticed.

Speaking of Chloe, she came back and stood next to me, her eyes fixated on Thane's back as he walked up the podium to stand beside Alpha Kael.

"Raven Claw Pack, meet my Beta Thane" Alpha Kael continued when Thane stood by him. A few gasps were heard from both packs.

"Aria is this real?" Chloe whispered, clutching unto my hand still staring hard at Thane.

I squeezed her hand back reassuringly. "Yes Chloe, you've found your mate" I whispered back and she blinked, smiled at me and turned back to ogle Thane.

Chloe's mate is the beta of this pack. This meant this was her permanent new pack and she has a new role to play here. I know she will be well-supported in here as the mate of their beta and I was excited to see what the future held for her. It wasn't bad coming to Crescent Pack after all.

A couple more introductions were made ommiting some other officials who weren't back from their assignments but would all be in attendance at our integration ceremony according to Alpha Kael. The vampire Stephan, a close friend of Kael was also introduced.

Roles and responsibilities between the pack was discussed and our integration ceremony would take place in a few days. This was something done to absorb and make us part of The Crescent Pack, join their pack link amongst other things. This was going to be temporary till we were ready to move back to our pack.

Thane mounted the podium and spoke more about the integration ceremony and the security mode of operation of the pack. Chloe eyes locked on him the whole time and when he locked eyes with her, her already flustered face was even more flustered drawing a chuckle from me.

Most of the talking was done and food, I mean lots of food was served. Most people were eating and making small conversation, trying to form relationships since we'd be one singular pack in a few days.

Thane walked over to I and Chloe.

"Hi" he greeted me as their hands entwined.

"Hi Beta, extremely lovely decorations" I croaked.

"Thane's fine please." He smiled.

"Okay" I breathed.

"This is Aria my best friend" Chloe gestured to me "And Aria this is Thane my mate" she breathed, her face crimson.

"Nice to meet you Aria" he said and stretched his hand as I did same.

"Uhmm I'll like to borrow your friend for a bit, I just need to show her something" he said scratching the back of his neck.

Chloe's eyes sparkled as she exchanged a glance with Thane. They look so perfect and I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Oh it's fine" I smiled wider.

"I'm really sorry, for taking her away. We'll be back in a bit" he continued.

"Hey it's fine really" I said with a nod.

"Aria.." Chloe started.

"Chloe it's fine, have fun. I'll be going back home soon, I'm already a bit tired" I urged them.

"Fine, just text me when you want to go home okay?" She asked and I nodded.

"Thank you" they both said and walked to the right side of the backyard that looked like a garden entryway.

As I looked back to the crowd, I spotted a few of my pack members interacting with Crescent pack. Mum and Dad were speaking to some older officials, Reena was tapping on her phone not caring about anything happening around her, Ryder was having an animated conversation with some warriors from Crescent Pack, a lot of others were having different interactions while eating.

I spotted Alpha Kael and Stephan as they interacted. I noticed the easy camaraderie between them, a friendship forged over time and tempered by mutual respect. Alpha Kael's charisma was palpable, drawing people to him like a magnet. While Stephan had an aura of quiet power surrounding him, a sense of ancient authority that commanded awe and respect. Despite his ageless and still like aura, his appearance was a bubble of calm humour.

Stephan's presence was a reminder that there was more to the world than met the eye and I don't know why I felt a thrill of excitement at the prospect of being in close proximity with this compendium of centuries. I guess everyone felt the same way seeing a vampire move effortlessly in a pack.

I had a bit of food and pushed the rest around. My head had been aching me all day but I ignored it, I sighed and decided to take a little stroll to the left part of the backyard, maybe it would help. This part had flowers too like the right but these ones were few with some boards that had some words written in a language I didn't understand on them like a mini display.

As I traced the inscriptions, I whispered some of the foreign words.

"Sigillum rumpere" the first one read "vitam dare" I was about whispering the third one when I felt a pair of eyes boring the back of my head. I breathed and turned to find piercing blue eyes staring at me from across the room.

My spine stiffened when his eyes sparkled and I saw golden flecks bounce around his blue orbs. Alpha Kael, he was the wolf at the balcony. My breathing hitched as I stretched my hand and squeezed one of the boards. I felt tingles go up my arm and my head began pounding ten times more than it had been aching me earlier making my eyes heavy. White light seared my eyes, I shut them close and opened them again, my vision blurred. I stumbled backwards, my hand slipping from the board holding me up and just before the world turned black, the last thing I heard amidst gasps was his deep husky voice filled with....panic? "Aria"